Dear longbox55,
Thanks for the info about the wheels and gearing in the rear axle. I am still torn about what to do for rims. I don't want flash, I want classic. I don't want this truck to look like a rat rod, even though it kind of is. I want it to look like a beat up old farm truck, but secretly have a powerhouse of a cummins. I have gotten one or two replies saying to put the front end portion of a dodge frame to put the motor on, and attatch it to the rest of the frame starting at bout the firewall. The main problem with that in my opinion, is fabricating some mounts to attatch the front fenders to. Should I try to modify the original frame, or add the front frame portion? I am also concerned that the high torque of that cummins will strip out the gears in the pumpkin of the rear axle, which could get very interesting in a hurry riding down the highway.
I want to know if I could fit the original wheels on to a modern Chevy or Dodge, 4500 or 5500, rear axle. If not, is there adapters I can buy for them, or will I have to fabricate them from scratch? I also wanted to know if the rims made in 1956 and later,(The ones that were not the "Widowmaker" rims), would bolt up to the '55's original axles. Can anyone help?I always carry lots of tools to my jobsites. I am torn about what style of bed to go with. Based on your experience, would you go with a flatbed with underbody toolboxes, a tool body, or a half tool body, half flatbed? What would you do? I am almost %100 sure I will have to dovetail the rear of the bed due to clearence issues on the riding mowers, so I will probably end up with about a thirteen foot long bed area due to the dovetail unless I want a ten foot long ramp on the back of that bed. Is there anything you think I should know about this? Anything is helpful.
